Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Ian Black

Ian Black

General Manager, Uber Toronto

30After years of delighting passengers, confounding councillors and enraging cabbies, Uber became legal. It was the biggest corporate coup of the year, and Black deserves the credit. He put a professional face on an outlaw organization, methodically expounding its virtues without denigrating the competition. While cabbies staged traffic-blocking protests, Black delivered puppies, ice cream and magicians to offices, and launched UberEats and UberHop. Small measures, but they go a long way in a city vexed by congestion.

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Keeping his drivers happy now that mandatory insurance coverage is cutting into wages.